Skip to main content

Roanoke Valley Rebels (ECHL, 1991-92)

1991-92 Regular Season:
Rebels vs. Greensboro Monarchs
     1991-92 was the second season of the ECHL's Roanoke Valley Rebels. The franchise orginally started in 1988 as the Virginia Lancers, one of the charter members of the East Coast Hockey League. The Rebels home was not in Roanoke, Virginia, but Vinton, Virginia, a suburb of Roanoke with a population of 8,059. The Rebels played their home games at the LancerLot Sports Complex, a 3,259-seat arena.
     The team got it's name and uniforms from an EHL/SHL franchise that existed from 1970-76, and featured a "no way would this happen in 2023" leaf logo with a Confederate Battle Flag. 
     Roy Sommer was the new head coach of the Rebels, replacing Claude Noel, who was hired by the Dayton Bombers. The 1990-91 Rebels had the second-worst record in the ECHL, going 26-31-7. The 1991-92 season was even worse, as Roanoke Valley finished 21-36-4-3. Their 49 points, however, earned them the final playoff spot in the East Division, as they finished just one point ahead of the Knoxville Cherokees. Attendance climbed to 2,054 per game at LancerLot Sports Complex, still the lowest in the ECHL.
     Roanoke Valley scored the second-fewest goals in the ECHL this season, managing just 236 goals, just eight ahead of league-worst Raleigh Icecaps. The Rebels did feature a 50-goal scorer, as former Bruins draft pick Mark Woolf scored and even 50 goals to go along with 101 points. Brett Stewart (33) and Peter Kasowski (26) were the only other 20+-goal scorers in the lineup. Future Brantford Smoke winger Wayne Muir scored 12 goals and 31 points in 46 games. 
     The Rebels allowed the fourth-most goals in the ECHL in 1991-92, getting scored on 313 times. The team went through five different goaltenders that season. Mike James led the way in net, playing in 45 games and sporting a 15-23-4 record and 3.97 GAA, along with 4 shutouts. Mike Mudd played the next-most games, making it into 13 with a 3-6-1 record and an ugly 5.61 GAA. Dan Bouchard (not the former NHLer) was in net 11 times, with a 0-3-1 record and even worse 6.26 GAA. The other two net minders were Doug Brown and Ray Letourneau. 
     Roanoke Valley did know how to rack up the penalty minutes, as the Rebels spent 2053 minutes in the penalty box. Leading the way was defenseman Mike Barlage. In his only professional season, the rookie piled up 249 minutes in 51 games, to go along with 34 in 7 playoff contests. He was joined in the "200-PIM Club" by Graham Garden, with 202 minutes in only 42 games. Wayne Muir was next with 168 minutes in 46 games played. 
     As stated earlier, the Rebels qualified for the Riley Cup Playoffs, facing the first place Greensboro Monarchs. Greensboro's record that year was 43-17-2-2, 41 points ahead of the Rebels and owned a 7-1 record in the season series. Despite this, the series went down to the wire, as the Monarchs need the full seven games to dispatch Roanoke Valley, despite outscoring the Rebels 28-18. The Hampton Roads Admirals would go on to win the Riley Cup championship, downing the Louisville Icehawks in four straight. 
     This program is from a game between the Rebels and Greensboro Monarchs. No date is given, so no idea what the result was (likely a Greensboro win). This is a 56-page program, all in black and white. The usual program stuff is inside, including articles about the history of the league and the sport, and bios of the coaching staff and front office. The league directory is on page five. There's also a full-page Doonsbury comic on page 22. Again, take a look at that logo on the cover. That would definitely not fly in today's world.
     Local advertisements include Dooley Printing Corporation, Vinton Dry Cleaners, Aztec Rental, Macado's Restaurant and Delicatessen, and Roanoke Fruit and Produce Company. The Rebels Spirit Team is featured on page 27, and the LancerLot Fitness Club Aerobic Instructor Team is on page 30, with a hand-drawn schedule.


Aftermath: The Roanoke Valley Rebels would be rebranded as "Roanoke Valley Rampage" for the 1993-94 season, their last season in Vinton. The franchise would bounce around for the next 12 years, playing in Huntsville, Alabama, Tallahassee, Florida and Macon, Georgia, before settling in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the second version of the Utah Grizzlies in 2005. The franchise remains in Salt Lake City to this day.

Reference:
East Coast Hockey League Regular Season Statistics: 1991-92, from hockeydb.com

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Port Huron Hockey: Flags/Wings (1962-81)

Now, on to Port Huron.      Port Huron has had a long, yet checkered, history of pro hockey. The most successful franchise, by far, was the Port Huron Flags (also called Wings for a few years) of the IHL. The Flags were, for the most part, a competitve team on the ice, making the Turner Cup Finals seven times and winning the Cup on three occasions. For three years, (1971-74), the franchise was a farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, and sent numerous players on to the NHL in it's existence. However, the team had problems drawing big enough crowds. While the Flags lasted for nearly 20 years, former GM Morris Snider later admitted that the franchise could have folded three years before it actually did, due to declining attendance. I've found some Flags/Wings programs online over the years, and here's what I have. 1963-64 Regular Season--Flags vs. Windsor       1963-64 was the second year of existence for the Flags. After missing the playoffs in their inaugural cam
Post a Comment
Read more

Flint Generals yearbook (IHL, 1973-74)

     I recently bought two yearbooks from the Flint Generals of the IHL. This one is from the 1973-74 season. It's a 40-page book, all in black-and-white, and on glossy paper. Each player for that season has a full page photo and a short bio. The statistics and a team photo for each Generals season are included. Stats for every player that wore the "blue and gold" are listed in the back of the yearbook. Flint Journal sportswriter Len Hoyes added an article previewing the remainder of the 1973-74 campaign.       One thing that Hoyes noted in his article was about attendance: "With all of their problems, the Generals were still attracting fans at a rate of 3,950 per game. Attendance was down slightly, but Flint's percentage rate of almost 100 percent remained the envy of minor league hockey." (Hoyes, 1974)      The original Generals were a popular team for most of their existence, and attendance only bottomed out when the region's economy tanked
Post a Comment
Read more

Muskegon Mohawks (IHL, 1965-84)

I know, I said earlier I was going to look at Detroit's minor league teams. That would mean the Vipers would be next, but I decided to cover them later when I had time (I have a TON of programs from that team). Instead, I'm going to look briefly at Muskegon.  Muskegon has had a long, colorful past in professional hockey. It all started in 1960 with the expansion Muskegon Zephyrs of the IHL. Five seasons later, 1965-66, the Zephyrs became the Mohawks, and remain so until 1984-85, when they became the Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks would remain in town through the 1992-93 season. After that season, the franchise would relocate to Cleveland, Ohio. Here are the Mohawks programs I have, along with a couple bonus scans.        The Mohawks existed from 1965-84, about 20 seasons, and had two vastly different eras of success. From 1965-76, the Mohawks finished above .500 10 times, winning the Huber Trophy (Regular Season Championship) six times and the Turner Cup (Playoff C
Post a Comment
Read more